Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Powell, Citing Jobs Risk, Opens Door to Cuts but Doesn’t Commit

9 hours ago

Gaza City Officially in Famine, With Hunger Spreading, Says Global Hunger Monitor

9 hours ago

Gavin Newsom’s Redistricting Plan Is on Its Way to Voters. What You Need to Know

1 day ago

CARB Executive Leader Rips Trump’s EPA for Seeking to Kill Proven Climate Science

1 day ago

California Lawmakers Advance First Two Bills in Democrats’ Redistricting Plan

1 day ago

Judge Rules Alina Habba Was Unlawfully Appointed as US Attorney in New Jersey

1 day ago

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Latest Role Is Social Media Troll

1 day ago
Houthi Rebels Block Food Deliveries to Starving Yemeni: UN Official
By admin
Published 7 years ago on
December 6, 2018

Share

RIMBO, Sweden — The head of the U.N. food agency has accused Shiite Houthi rebels of blocking access to food deliveries to civilians devastated by the war in Yemen.
World Food Program chief David Beasley, who has previously criticized the Saudi-led coalition for a blockade of Yemeni ports, told The Associated Press on Thursday that it’s now the Houthis who are impeding access in parts of the country.
In an interview at the agency’s headquarters in Rome, Beasley says: “I’m on their back because we have access issues out into different areas throughout Yemen. We need more people; they blocked our visas. We need equipment, they blocked our equipment, they blocked our access.”
Beasley, who visited Yemen two weeks ago, called the humanitarian situation there “desperate” and said the WFP needs access and money to avert a famine.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s warring sides agreed to a broad prisoner swap Thursday, sitting down in the same room together for the first time in years at U.N.-sponsored peace talks in Sweden aimed at halting a catastrophic war that has brought the country to the brink of famine.
Hopes were high that talks wouldn’t deteriorate into further violence as in the past, and that the prisoner exchange would be an important first step toward building confidence between highly distrustful adversaries.

Serious About De-Escalating the Fighting

U.N. envoy Martin Griffiths said the two sides have signaled they are serious about de-escalating the fighting through calls they’ve made in recent weeks, and urged them to work to further reduce the violence in the Arab world’s poorest nation, scene of massive civilian suffering.

“I’m also pleased to announce the signing of an agreement on the exchange of prisoners, detainees, the missing, the forcibly detained and individuals placed under house arrest.” — U.N. envoy Martin Griffiths
“I’m also pleased to announce the signing of an agreement on the exchange of prisoners, detainees, the missing, the forcibly detained and individuals placed under house arrest,” Griffiths said from the venue. “It will allow thousands of families to be reunited, and it is product of very effective, active work from both delegations.”
The international Red Cross said it would oversee the prisoner exchange, which is expected to take weeks.
The talks in the Swedish town of Rimbo, north of Stockholm, aim to set up “a framework for negotiations” on a future peace agreement, Griffiths said, calling the coming days a milestone nonetheless and urging the parties “to work in good faith … to deliver a message of peace.”
The fighting in Yemen has generated the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and claimed at least 10,000 lives, with experts estimating a much higher toll. The 3-year-old conflict pits the internationally recognized government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition, against Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, who took the capital, Sanaa, in 2014.

Saudi-Led Group Has Conducted Thousands of Airstrikes

The Saudi-led group has conducted thousands of airstrikes, hitting schools, hospitals and wedding parties in what critics call reckless bombardment. The Houthis have, for their part, fired long-range missiles into Saudi Arabia and targeted vessels in the Red Sea. Both sides stand accused of war crimes.

“Now it is up to you, the Yemini parties. You have the command of your future.” — Margot Wallstrom, Sweden’s foreign minister
U.N. officials, however, have sought to downplay expectations from the talks, saying they don’t foresee rapid progress toward a political settlement but hope for at least minor steps that would help to address Yemen’s worsening humanitarian crisis and prepare a framework for further negotiations.
Some Yemeni voices on both sides fired off last-minute demands, sniping commentary and finger-pointing, while combat continued on the ground in some areas.
Fighting raged in the central city of Taiz, long a contested battleground, where residents were hopeful yet highly skeptical they had much to look forward to as poverty surges.
Sweden’s foreign minister who opened the talks, Margot Wallstrom, wished the Yemen adversaries strength to find “compromise and courage” as they embark on the difficult task ahead.
“Now it is up to you, the Yemini parties,” she said. “You have the command of your future.”

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno Crash Sends Car Into Building After Running Red Light

DON'T MISS

Fresno City Gets Extension in Herndon 4-Story Apartment Case

DON'T MISS

Atwater Prison Inmate Charged for Threatening to Kill Prosecutor’s Family

DON'T MISS

Multiple Passengers Are Killed After Bus Crashes in Western New York

DON'T MISS

Fresno Firefighters Contain Cambridge Avenue Blaze, No Injuries Reported

DON'T MISS

With Major Heat Risk Forecast, This Is a Good Weekend to Stay Indoors in Fresno

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Intel Has Agreed to Deal for US to Take 10% Equity Stake

DON'T MISS

Epstein Associate Maxwell Says She Never Saw Trump Behave Inappropriately

DON'T MISS

Wrongly Deported Migrant Abrego to Be Released Soon, Lawyer Says

DON'T MISS

Remembering Ron McCary, Who Did It All for KMJ

UP NEXT

Canada to Remove Many Retaliatory Tariffs on US Goods, Says Source

UP NEXT

Gaza City Officially in Famine, With Hunger Spreading, Says Global Hunger Monitor

UP NEXT

More Americans Applying for Refugee Status in Canada, Data Shows

UP NEXT

US Issues More Iran-Related Sanctions

UP NEXT

Netanyahu Says Israel to Begin Gaza Ceasefire Negotiations to End War, Release Hostages

UP NEXT

Israel Bombards Gaza City Ahead of Planned Offensive

UP NEXT

Putin’s Demand to Ukraine: Give up Donbas, No NATO and No Western Troops, Sources Say

UP NEXT

James Dobson, American Evangelical Activist, Dies at 89

UP NEXT

Top Dem on Oversight Committee Demands Trump Administration Account for Wildland Firefighter Vacancies

UP NEXT

Poll: California Dems Favor Newsom Over Harris in 2028 Matchup

Multiple Passengers Are Killed After Bus Crashes in Western New York

2 hours ago

Fresno Firefighters Contain Cambridge Avenue Blaze, No Injuries Reported

3 hours ago

With Major Heat Risk Forecast, This Is a Good Weekend to Stay Indoors in Fresno

3 hours ago

Trump Says Intel Has Agreed to Deal for US to Take 10% Equity Stake

4 hours ago

Epstein Associate Maxwell Says She Never Saw Trump Behave Inappropriately

4 hours ago

Wrongly Deported Migrant Abrego to Be Released Soon, Lawyer Says

4 hours ago

Remembering Ron McCary, Who Did It All for KMJ

5 hours ago

I Was Preyed On for My VA Benefits. California Can Stop It

5 hours ago

Texas Senate Debates Redistricting Bill, Is Expected to Pass It Easily

5 hours ago

Trump: DC Mayor Bowser Must Get Act Together or Won’t Be Mayor Anymore

5 hours ago

Fresno Crash Sends Car Into Building After Running Red Light

A driver ran a red light Friday at the intersection of Herndon and West avenues, clipping another vehicle before crashing into a nearby buil...

52 minutes ago

52 minutes ago

Fresno Crash Sends Car Into Building After Running Red Light

58 minutes ago

Fresno City Gets Extension in Herndon 4-Story Apartment Case

The crest of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is seen at their headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 10, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File photo
2 hours ago

Atwater Prison Inmate Charged for Threatening to Kill Prosecutor’s Family

First responders work at the scene of a bus crash on the New York State Thruway about 30 miles east of Buffalo, N.Y., on Friday afternoon, Aug. 22, 2025. The tour bus traveling from Niagara Falls to New York City crashed on a highway outside Buffalo on Friday, killing multiple passengers, including at least one child, and leaving some people trapped beneath the vehicle, officials said. (Lauren Petracca/The New York Times)
2 hours ago

Multiple Passengers Are Killed After Bus Crashes in Western New York

On Friday, August 22, 2025, Fresno firefighters contained a house fire on East Cambridge Avenue, preventing major damage and reporting no injuries. (Fresno Fire)
3 hours ago

Fresno Firefighters Contain Cambridge Avenue Blaze, No Injuries Reported

Fresno heat hot heatwave High Humidity
3 hours ago

With Major Heat Risk Forecast, This Is a Good Weekend to Stay Indoors in Fresno

A smartphone with a displayed Intel logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023. (Reuters File)
4 hours ago

Trump Says Intel Has Agreed to Deal for US to Take 10% Equity Stake

Ghislaine Maxwell appears via video link during her arraignment hearing in Manhattan Federal Court, in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S. July 14, 2020 in this courtroom sketch. (Reuters File)
4 hours ago

Epstein Associate Maxwell Says She Never Saw Trump Behave Inappropriately

Search

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Send this to a friend